Microsoft revamped its free online storage service SkyDrive this week (big week for online storage, right?) with new desktop apps and better syncing—but, sadly, a reduced storage limit for new users: from the 25GB previously offered to 7GB. Existing Windows Live account users can claim the 25GB of free space for a limited time. Here's how.

First, if you're an existing SkyDrive user already are using more than 4GB as of April 1, according to this MSDN blog post, you're already upgraded and grandfathered into the 25GB storage plan. You're good.

Otherwise, existing SkyDrive account holders should login to their accounts at skydrive.live.com, then click the "Manage storage" link on the left navigation pane. In the next screen, click the "Free upgrade!" button to increase your storage limit from 7GB to 25GB. It's a quick and painless process.

You may be able to get 25GB of SkyDrive storage even if you're not a current SkyDrive user. According to a Slickdeals post, if you have a Windows Live account (e.g., @live.com or @msn.com) or Hotmail the upgrade may work for you. Click on SkyDrive from within Hotmail or sign in with your WIndows Live account at the SkyDrive link below for the upgrade.

The new SkyDrive now has a 2GB per file limit rather than 300MB, new paid storage plans, and Dropbox-like single-folder syncing (read more about the changes at MSDN). As before, SkyDrive offers in-browser Microsoft Office document editing and creating capabilities, and if you grab the upgrade before this limited time offer ends (no word on when it expires), a pretty attractive amount of free storage space.

SkyDrive | via MSNBC and Slickdeals

I’ve said it here many times – winning high rankings in search engines is not that hard for local businesses. There are some categories of business that are very competitive and certainly require the investment of a high caliber SEO firm, but do it yourself type can do well if they focus on two activities.

Creating content and acquiring the right kinds of links back to your site.

 

Most of the web pages you encounter is presented to you via HTML, the world wide web’s markup language. This article will share with you 20 best practices that will lead to clean and correct markup.

 

Press Release Source: EPIX On Tuesday August 10, 2010, 7:00 am EDT

NEW YORK & BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--EPIX™ and Netflix, Inc. [Nasdaq: NFLX] today announced an agreement through which Netflix members can instantly watch an array of new releases and library titles from EPIX streamed over the Internet from Netflix. Movies from the multi-year deal will begin streaming from Netflix on September 1 and include movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM.

EPIX has subscription pay TV rights to new releases and movies from the libraries of its partners and will make these movies available to Netflix 90 days after their premium pay TV and subscription on demand debuts. Historically, the rights to distribute these films are pre-sold to pay TV for as long as nine years after their theatrical release.

This looks like good news for Netflix subscribers. I can't to see what is available on September first. Netflix has an excellent TV offering, but the quality movies available to watch instantly are slim.

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Lifehacker Pack for iPhone: Our List of the Best iPhone Apps

Looking to power up your iPhone with the best free and cheap apps out there? Our first edition of the Lifehacker Pack for iPhone rounds up our favorites must-have iPhone applications.

Whether you just bought a new iPhone or you're simply looking for some of the best basic apps for your device, the list below should be plenty to get you started. The majority of the apps are free unless otherwise noted, and where they're not free, we aimed for cheap. And when a default application is incredibly useful and blows all its competition out of the water—we included it, too. It's a big list, so here's an index if you want to quickly jump to a section:

• Productivity
• Internet/Communication
• Location-Aware
• Utilities
• Media
• Food and Entertainment
• Art and Photography

One more reason to wait on upgrading to the iPhone 4. It hard to believe this got past their beta testing.